The Last Confession - TNT

Set in the Vatican in 1978, New York lawyer Roger Crane's first play takes an intelligent and provocative (though sometimes heavy-handed) look at how Luciani, Cardinal of Venice, became Pope John Paul I, only to be found dead 33 days later. Crane focuses on Cardinal Benelli, the man instrumental in securing Luciani's elevation to the head of the church. David Suchet plays him with a troubled gravitas as he wrestles with his own doubts and demons. The behind-the-scenes machinations as the old Pope approaches death reveal the conflict of ideologies and interests at the highest level, but it is only after the papal elections (when Richard O'Callaghan's benign but determined new broom begins to tackle the problems he has inherited) that this drama-cum-thriller really comes to life.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, SW, 0870-400 0626. Until September 15. £18.80-62.50